Sixers better off missing the playoffs?

John Mitchell

Posted:
Monday, April 16, 2012, 12:12 PM

So, your 76ers have seven games left in which to salvage the season. But is this season really one deserving of resuscitation?

Everywhere I go, whenever the Sixers become the subject of conversation, most fans of the team have completely reversed field on wanting them to make the playoffs. They want to see the Sixers “lose out.”

This, of course, is a complete reversal of field from the consensus regarding this team when it stood atop the Atlantic Division with a 20-9 record and looked like it was headed for home court advantage in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

No doubt, 19 losses in the last 31 games can change that outlook for a rabid fan base (pat yourselves on the back for notching a league-best 19 percent increase in attendance at Wells Fargo Center this season) that the Sixers took riding in a rocket, gave it a star and then dropped it back down to this cold, cold world, but the bottom line is that a trip to the playoffs – even if it means inevitable elimination by Chicago or Miami – is better overall for the franchise than landing in the lottery and hoping the Sixers can jump way up near the top of the draft.

But I want to know what the fans think. Are you so turned off by this bunch that you would rather see them in the lottery rather than a playoff series that conventional wisdoms says they can’t win? I don’t know how much wisdom there is in that when you consider that this team has so many young players on the roster that would benefit from the experience gained from participating in the postseason.

Only one team is going to walk off with the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy, and I don’t believe that anyone thought that team was going to be the Sixers even when they were the hottest thing in the league two months ago.

So, Sixer faithful, what do you think? Playoffs or no?

Contact staff writer John N. Mitchell at jmitchell@philly.com. Follow him on Twitter @JmitchellInquirer

Keith Pompey has been an Inquirer reporter since September 2004 and took over the Sixers beat in the summer of 2013 after covering Temple basketball and football for the previous three years.

Marc Narducci has served in a variety of roles with the Inquirer since beginning in 1983. He has covered the 76ers as a backup and a beat writer. In addition, Narducci has covered everything from the Super Bowl to the World Series and a lot in between.